B.A., Communications, 2000

Joe Buscaino was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2012 to fill a vacancy and re­elected to his first full four-year term in 2013. He was then appointed by the Council President to serve as Chairman of the powerful Public Works & Gang Reduction Committee. As Chair, Buscaino is tasked with oversight of the City’s gang reduction efforts, and the Department of Public Works. The Department builds the City's streets, installs its sewers, and constructs storm drains as well as public buildings, rights-of­-way, and service facilities.

Buscaino also serves as the Vice Chair of the Public Safety Committee and as a member of the Entertainment and Facilities Committee, Health, Mental Health and Education Committee, Trade, Commerce, and Technology Committee, and the Ad Hoc Committee on the 2024 Summer Olympics. In addition, he serves as the Mayor’s appointee to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Prior to his election to the City Council, Buscaino served 15 years as a police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department. He created the LAPD’s first Teen Community Police Advisory Board, an organization that works with teens to problem solve and break the barriers between police and teenagers. His concept of bringing youths’ perspectives to problem solving with the police department was implemented citywide in 2011. Buscaino served on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Harbor Area, the San Pedro YWCA’s Racial Justice Committee, and the Advisory Council for the Los Angeles Watts Summer Games.